Fox

English origin

The Fox surname in England comes from the Middle English identical word for 'fox', and was given to those who looked like or had the qualities of the animal such as being cunning or having red hair. It can also be a corruption of the Norman name 'Folko' or 'Foulques', and given to those who were the son or descendant of someone with that name. Some Fox carriers in England could also be of Irish ancestry. Fox is the 1,595th most common surname in the world.

Irish Origins

The main origin of the Fox surname in Ireland is Ó Sionnaigh, a respectable clan from the Irish Midlands who were rulers of Tethbae and later barons of Kilcoursey in County Offaly. They descend from Niall of the Nine Hostages son, Maine of Tethba of the Southern Uí Néill.

Other possible Fox surname origins in Ireland include de Bhosc, a Norman name from County Limerick, Mac an tSionnaigh a scattered name primarily found in Ulster and Mac Seancha originally from County Sligo, but now chiefly found in County Leitrim, it was incorrectly translated to Fox due to Seancha being falsely thought to derive from Sionnach.

Some families with this name

Fox sisters (19th century), American sisters credited as the creators of Spiritualism

Robin Fox family of English actors, including Edward, James, Emilia, Laurence and Lydia Fox

Fox-Strangways (originally Fox), family name of the Earls of Ilchester

Lane Fox, a double-barrelled English surname

Notable persons with this surname

Actors

Anne-Marie Fox (born 1962), American model and actress

Bernard Fox (actor) (1927–2016), Welsh actor

Colin Fox (actor) (1938–2025), Canadian actor

David Fox (actor) (1941–2021), Canadian actor

Dorothi Fox (born 1930), American actress

Edward Fox (actor) (born 1937), English actor

Emilia Fox (born 1974), English actress, daughter of Edward

Freddie Fox (actor) (born 1989), English actor

Harry Fox (1882–1959), American actor

Jack Fox (actor) (born 1985), English actor

James Fox (born 1939), English actor

Janet Fox (1912–2002), American actor

Jorja Fox (born 1968), American actress

Julia Fox (born 1990), American actress, model, media personality

Kerry Fox (born 1966), New Zealand actress

Laurence Fox (born 1978), English actor, son of James

Matthew Fox (actor) (born 1966), American actor

Megan Fox (born 1986), American actress

Sir Michael Fox (1921–2007), English judge

Arts

Aaron Fox (musicologist) (contemporary), American musicologist

Adam Fox (poet) (1883–1977), British poet

Anna Maria Fox (1816–1897), English cultural promoter in Falmouth, Cornwall

Annie Fox (author) (born 1950), American author

Christopher Fox (composer) (born 1955), British composer

Sir David Scott Fox (1910–1985), British diplomat and writer

David Fox, pseudonym of Isabel Ostrander

E. Phillips Fox (1865–1915), Australian painter

Edward Fox (author) (born 1958), American author

Ethel Carrick Fox (1872–1952), English-born painter better known as Ethel Carrick

Everett Fox (contemporary), American scholar and translator of the Hebrew Bible

Sir Frank Fox (author) (1874–1960), Australian journalist and author

Frederick A. Fox (1931–2011), American composer

Gardner Fox (1911–1986), American writer

George Fox (singer) (born 1960), Canadian country music singer

Gill Fox (1915–2004), American cartoonist and animator

Greg Fox (author) (born 1961), American author and cartoonist

Military

Cecil H. Fox (1873–1963), British naval officer

Charley Fox (1920–2008), Royal Canadian Air Force officer in World War II

David G. Fox, U.S. Army officer

Earl R. Fox (1919–2012), U.S. Navy and Coast Guard veteran

Francis John Fox (1857–1902), New Zealand soldier and farmer

Francis Lane Fox (1899–1989), British Army officer and Yorkshire landowner

George Malcolm Fox (1843–1918), Inspector General of Gymnasia for the British Army at Aldershot

Gustavus Fox (1821–1883), American naval officer in the Civil War

Josiah Fox (1763–1847), Cornish-American naval architect

Myles C. Fox (1918–1942), United States Marine Corps officer and Navy Cross recipient

Paddy Fox (1933–2016), British recruiting sergeant and Chelsea Pensioner

Wesley L. Fox (1931–2017), American US Marine, awarded the Medal of Honor

Politics and peerage

Arthur Aloysius Fox (1847–1901), South Australian politician

Ashley Fox (born 1969), English Conservative MEP, elected 2009

Black Fox (Cherokee chief) (c. 1746–1811), Cherokee chief

Bradley R. Fox, Bahamian politician

Charles James Fox (1749–1806), British politician

Charles Richard Fox (1796–1873), illegitimate son of Henry Richard Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland

Chauncey J. Fox (1797–1883), New York politician

Chloë Fox (born 1971), Australian politician

Claire Fox (born 1960), British political writer

Colin Fox (politician) (born 1959), Scottish politician

Daniel M. Fox (1819–1890), American politician

David Spencer Fox (1817–1901), American politician

Francis Fox (1939–2024), member of the Senate of Canada

Galen Fox (born 1943), Hawaii politician and convicted sex offender

Gary Fox (politician) (1943–2022), Canadian politician from Ontario

Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland (1705–1774), English nobleman and statesman

Henry Richard Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland (1773–1840), English nobleman and politician

Religion

Edward Fox (bishop) (1496–1538), English churchman, Bishop of Hereford

Emmet Fox (1886–1951), Irish spiritual leader of the early 20th century

Francis Fox (divine) (1675–1738), English divine

George Fox (1624–1691), English Dissenter and the founder of the Religious Society of Friends

Joseph John Fox (1855–1915), American Roman Catholic bishop

Matthew Fox (priest) (born 1940), American priest and theologian

Peter Fox (bishop) (born 1952), British Anglican vicar and former bishop

Richard Foxe (Prince Bishop, 1448–1528), English churchman, founder of Corpus Christi College, Oxford

Tom Fox (Quaker) (1951–2006), Quaker peacemaker executed by insurgents in Iraq

William Johnson Fox (1786–1864), English religious and political orator

Science, technology, engineering, mathematics

Annette Baker Fox (1912–2011), American international relations scholar

Brian Fox (computer programmer) (born 1959), software programmer

Sir Charles Fox (civil and railway engineer) (1810–1874), English civil engineer

Sir Charles Douglas Fox (1840–1921), British civil engineer

Charles Fox (mathematician) (1897–1977), introduced Fox–Wright function and Fox H-function

Cyril Fred Fox (1882–1967), English archaeologist

Dixon Ryan Fox (1887–1945), American educator and researcher

Fiona Fox (UK press officer) (born 1964), director of the UK Science Media Centre

Sir Francis Fox (civil engineer) (1844–1927), English civil engineer

J. G. Fox (1916–1980), known as Jack, American nuclear physicist

James Fox (engineer) (1780–1830), English machine tool maker

John Fox (statistician) (born 1946), British statistician

Kate Fox, British social anthropologist

Mark S. Fox (born ca. 1952), Canadian computer scientist

Marye Anne Fox (1947–2021), American chemist and university administrator

Sports

Adam Fox (born 1998), player with New York Rangers

Alicia Fox (born 1986), American professional wrestler and model

Allen Fox (born 1939), American tennis player, coach, and author

Andy Fox (born 1971), American baseball coach

Bertil Fox (born 1951), British bodybuilder

Billy Fox (boxer) (1926–1986), American boxer

Chad Fox (born 1970), American baseball player

Christian Fox (born 1981), Scottish footballer

Danny Fox (born 1986), Scottish footballer

David Fox (footballer) (born 1983), English footballer

David Fox (swimmer) (born 1971), member of the USA 1996 Olympic team

De'Aaron Fox (born 1997), American basketball player

Denton Fox (1948–2013), American football player

Deryck Fox (born 1964), British rugby league footballer and coach

Don Fox (1935–2008), English rugby league footballer

Francis Hugh Fox (1863–1952), English rugby player

Frank Fox (Gaelic footballer) (1911–1940), Irish Gaelic footballer

Other

Anthony Fox, Irish writer, producer, director, actor and founder of the New Theatre, Dublin

Bernard Fox (Irish republican) (born 1951), hunger striker

Charles Masson Fox (1866–1935), Cornish businessman

David Fox, various people with this name

David Fox (game designer), multimedia producer

Ed Fox, several persons

Edward Fox, several persons

Francis Fox, several persons

Frank Fox, several persons

Frank S. Fox (1861–1920), American academic and college president

Frank Fox, for whom Fox, Oklahoma was named

Freddie Fox, multiple people

Frederick Fox, multiple people

Frederic Fox (1917–1981), Keeper of Princetoniana at Princeton University

Frederick Fox (milliner) (1931–2013), Australian-born English milliner

Jack Fox, multiple people

Jennifer Fox, multiple people

Josephine Clardy Fox (1881–1970), American businesswoman and philanthropist

Kathleen Fox (aviator) (born 1951), Canadian parachutist, pilot, flight instructor

Fictional characters

Aaron Fox (Nexo Knights), a character in Nexo Knights

Beth Fox, a character in the American sitcom television series Coach

Steve Fox, a character in the Tekken video game series